Centralized Blockchain-Based Energy Trading Platform for Interconnected Microgrids

Abstract

Inter-connected Microgrids (IMGs) have emerged as a promising structure for future grids, offering resilience and independence in energy exchangeability with neighbours. To enable such interconnected structure, an interconnected market between individual Microgrids (MGs) participating via an agent (i.e., Energy Management System [EMS]) is required. Each agent is Self-Benefit-Driven (SBD), which means that it works in the best interests of its own MG. Therefore, energy trading is established to enhance these benefits. In this paper, a new strategy is proposed for IMG energy trading that considers SBD actions for MGs' agents, and a unique utility function for each MG is defined. The function includes import and/or export benefits for each MG. Furthermore, the definition of the utility also considers the MG's different objectives when importing versus exporting. A centralized Nash bargaining model is proposed for IMG energy trading to ensure fair settlements through a central entity (e.g., Distributed System Operator [DSO]). The proposed algorithm is developed using an adapted blockchain that enhances the security and transparency of the platform. The effectiveness of the proposed strategy is verified using a number of case studies.